When should Americans remove statues of historical figures from the nation's public square?

On this week’s episode of Politics In Question, Greg Weiner joins Julia, Lee, and James to consider the controversy surrounding recent efforts to remove monuments and memorials from the public square that commemorate the Confederacy and other prominent historical figures. Greg is the Provost and Academic Vice President at Assumption University, where he is also an Associate Professor of Political Science. He specializes in the study of American politics and history, political theory, the Founding, Congress, and constitutional law. Greg is the author of several books including, most recently, The Political Constitution: The Case Against Judicial Supremacy (University Press of Kansas, 2019) and Old Whigs: Burke, Lincoln and the Politics of Prudence (Encounter Books, 2019). He is also a regular contributor at the New York Times and a contributing editor of Law & Liberty.

When should Americans remove monuments from the proverbial public square? Should all of those targeted come down? How do citizens make that decision? Where do they make it? And what exactly is a National Garden of American Heroes? These are some of the questions Greg, Julia, Lee, and James discuss on this week’s episode.

This episode is also available on Apple, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Show Notes

Greg Weiner, “Edmund Burke and Abraham Lincoln, ‘All in All’,” National Review, (July 7, 2020).

Greg Weiner, “Jacobinism in Golden Gate Park,” National Review (June 22, 2020).

Greg Weiner, “Permanence and Political Correctness,” Law & Liberty (April 3, 2019).

Greg Weiner, “Yale’s Identity Politics Are Calhounian to Their Core,” Law & Liberty (February 13, 2017).